More than 1.1 Million Citizens Benefitted from Safety Net Programs: MoLSA

Addis Ababa May 30/2018 More than 1.1 million citizens have benefitted from safety net programs conducted in urban and rural areas of the country, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs reported. The Ministry is conducting a two days meeting to conduct a performance evaluation on the nationwide safety net program implemented over the last 9 months in Adama town. Tesfaye Sheferaw, Developmental Safety Net Program Coordinator in the Ministry said that this year comprehensive safety net programs are being conducted in the rural areas of the country. The program is under implementation in 349 Woredas of Amhara, Oromia, Tigray, SNNPR, Ethiopia Somali, and Afar Regional States as well in Dire Dawa Administration, Tesfaye Added. Beneficiaries in 11 towns and cities of the country including Addis Ababa, Mekele, Adama and Hawassa have received access to the program. Tesfaye noted that more than 8 million persons are already benefiting from the program in the form of cash transfer and food support. Over the last 9 months, a total of Birr 1 billion 359 million has been directly disbursed to 1 million 157,000 citizens. Cash transfer was also effected for the elderly, the disabled and for those who lack any livelihood support, ill and bed ridden. Apart from providing developmental safety net services through cash transfer, the Ministry is also working on enabling the beneficiaries to access basic social services, Tesfaye noted. State Minister at the Ministry, Misganaw Admasu who was chairing the meeting said in line with the National Social Security Service Policy of the country, the Ministry focuses on those sections of the society with the highest level of vulnerability to poverty. The main purpose of the program is to effectively rehabilitate those sections of the society, which are still food insecure, the State Minister added. The meetings was aimed at conducting a performance evaluation on the program and identifying and resolving the hurdles faced in promoting equity, accessibility and efficiency in the future performance of the program.